Balustrade



F. L. HAWKINS 2,563,530

BALUSTRADE Aug. 7, 1951 Filed pct, 11, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

BY 2 I TfO/Z/VE) F. L. HAWKINS Aug. 7, 1951 BALUSTRADE 2 Sheet-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 11, 1946 Patented Aug. 7, 1951 UNIT ED STATES PAT ENT OF FICE 2.563530 BALUSTRADE;

Floyd L. Hawkins, Birmingham, Ala.

Application October 11, 1946,,Serial No. 702,822

4 Claims.

1 This invention relates to metal balustrades and has for an object the provision of a prefabricated article of the character designated which may be fitted and erected on the job.

thereby reducing to a. minimum the labor and expense involved in fabrication and erection.

As is well. known in the art to which my invention relates, metal balustrades are usually fabricated to order in shops and are transportedto. the place of installation when erected. This necessitates a workman first going to the place where the balustrade is to be insta1led and taking careful measurements. He then returns to his shop and the balustrad'e is laid out, fabricated, andthen carried to the place where it is to be erected. In the. construction of balustrades for stairways the angle of inclination of different Stairways varies and in order to provide a neat appearing job it has heretofore been considered necessary to cut and fit the pickets to the upper and lower rails in the shop before the balustrade is. erected. Also, it was necessary to. cut openings. in the upper and lower rails. of varying lengths to receive the ends. of the pickets, depending on the angle of inclination of the balustrade.

It is. accordingly the. prime purpose of. this invention to provide a balustrade, the parts of which may be produced in predetermined lengths which may .be cut to. fit; and erected on the job and in which the openings in the. rails are of a uniform length and the pickets are connected to. the rails. with a sturdy connection. having a smooth appearance regardless of the angle of inclination of the stairway.

Abalustrade embodying features of my invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a. part of this application, in which Fig. l is: a fragmentary elevational view;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the-line 11-11 of Fig. 1;

Figs- 3 and 4 are enlarged? perspective views showing alternate ways of. arranging the web of the rail when pickets are secured. thereto;

Fig. 5 is anenlargedview showing still another ll;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged. detail. view; showing the web cut away where the picket is connected and a spring clip placed" over the picket:

Fig. 7 is an enlarged View showing a slightly different form ofpicketand opening in the web of the rail;

Fig. 8 isanenlarged sectional view taken along the'line VIII.VIII of Fig. 7

Fig. 9:is an enlarged view of afurther modified form ofmy invention in which. the picket is secured to the rail by welding instead of with alp Figs. 10 and 11 are enlarged views at right 2 angles to each other showing further modified; forms of welding the picket to the rail; and.

Fig. 12' is a view similar to Fig; 9" showing a:

. still further modified form.

Referring. now to the drawings for a better understanding of my invention, I. show in Fig: 1 a balustrade comprising an upper rail ['0' which. asv shown in Fig. 2 is in the. form of a channel with its web I'I facing downward and" with its: side. flanges ['2' and I3 bent over at the top to form. beads. Over the rail as thus constructed is telescoped a metal. molding M to. give the ran a smooth finish and an. ornamental appearance. At It is shown the lower rail which is also in the form of a channel. with its web Il:

facing upward towards the web II of the upper rail, and with its side flanges f8 and 19' turnedi downwards; It is contemplated that the. rails I0 and I! will be constructed in predetermined lengthsin the shop and that the sections thus.

constructed may be coupled together by" means of couplings 21 and 22 and joined to supporting, posts 23 to provide a balustrade of the requisite" length. Each of the channels comprising the upper and lower rails is provided with a plurality of spaced openings 24 and. 24'' to receive the ends of pickets 26 which may be secured.

thereto by means of pins 21' and 28-.

As. shown particularly in Figs. 3, 4 and 50f the drawings; the openings 2.4; and 24 maybe formed by splitting the webs of' the rails along the sides and transversely thereof to provide lips 29 and 31. which are adapted to be bent to bear against the sides of" the pickets 2'6 and brace the pickets,

' as well as to provide an ornamental appearance.

Where the balustrade is inclined, as shown in Fig. l, I'preferably deform the. lip on the side" of the picket forming an acute" angle with the associated rail and bend it. inwardly'of'the channel. while the other associated lip is bent outwardly to bear against the other side of the picket; The lips 29 and 3 I, however, may both be turned outward, as shown in Fig. 4', or they may both be turnedinward as shown in Fig. 5' of the drawmgs. an. important part of the bracing and: securing means'for the pickets.

In Fig; 6' of the drawings, I show a modified form of my invention in, which the channel 32 forming the rail is provided. with an opening, 33 to receive the picket 26 and the picket is joined to the rail by means of a pin 34 passing through the end of the picket and? the sides: of the chan- .nel forming the rail; Instead of lips being formed on the sides of the opening-33, I provide a collar 36. having an opening" 31 therein which" fits. over the; picket 2E and which is slipped over the picket 2 8. The collar 36 is provided with re' silient lips 38? and 39 which bear against: thesides With whatever means chosen, they form":

of the picket 26 as shown, to provide an ornamental appearance. It will be understood that both the upper and lower rails will be constructed as shown in Fig. 6, and that the collars may be welded or otherwise secured to the rails. I

In Figs. '7 and 8, I show still another form of my invention in which a rail 4| is provided with an Opening 42 formed by cutting the web of the channel straight across and then along the sides to form ears 43 and 44 with holes therein to receive a pin 46 to secure the end of the picket 41. In accordance with this modification, the end of the picket 41 is curved, as shown, on a radius equal to the distance from the center of the pin 46 to the edge of the opening 42. The other side of the opening 42 is provided with a lip 48 which bears against the other side of the end of the picket; This embodiment of the invention provides'a Variation in ornamental appearance from that shown in the previous modifications.

In Figs. 9 to 12 of the drawings, I show fur ther modified forms of my invention, in which instead of employing a pin to fasten the pickets t'o'the rails, the pickets are welded to the rails in such a manner as to permit relative angular movement of the rails and the pickets when erecting the same, thereby making it possible to assemble the pickets and the rails on the ground and to adjust them to the desired angle of inclination of the balustrade as it is being erected. In Fig. 9 I show the lower rail 48 provided with an opening 49 therein having a downturned lip 51 along one side which bears against the end of the picket 52 and is welded thereto at 53. It will be readily seen that with this arrangement the picket 52 may be turned with respect to the rail 48 to accommodate the required angle of inclination of the balustrade. By this construction, the pickets and rails may be welded together in the shop, the length of the rails being adjusted by cutting to fit after reaching the job. The exact inclination of the rails may be obtained by bending the lips 51 to provide the required angle betweenthe pickets and rails.

In Fig. of the drawing, the rail 54 is provided with a similar opening 56 to that shown in Figs 9 with a downturned lip 51 bearing against the side of the picket 58. In accordance with this modification, the picket is welded to the rail at 59.

' In Fig. 12 of the drawing, I show a still further modified form of my invention in which the rail 6| is provided with an opening 62 in the web thereof with an upturned lip 63 on the lower side of the picket and bearing against the picket. The

lip 63 is welded to the picket at 64. In any of the forms shown in Figs. 9 to 12 inclusive, it will be, seen that I have provided means whereby the pickets may be joined to the rail with a strong,

yet flexible connection, and without the necessity inclination of the rails on the job.

While I have shown my invention in several forms, it will beobvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other'changes and modifications. with-' out departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a metal balustrade, inclined substantially parallel upper and lower plate members forming rails, a substantially vertical picket extending between the rails, there being an opening in the lower rail receiving the lower end of the picket,a lip at one side of the opening connected to said rail and having a free end having substantially tangential contact with said picket, means rigidly securing the picket to the lip adjacent the free end thereof, and means securing the upper end of the picket to the upper rail.

2; The combination with upper and lower substantially parallel metal plate-like rails of a balustrade and a substantially vertically disposed picket extending therebetween, of an opening in the lower rail receiving the lower end of the picket, said opening being defined along one side by an edge coplanar with the plate-like rail and along the opposite side by' a lip-like portion of the rail having a free end lying out of coplanar relation with the rail and having substantially tangential contact with the side of the picket when the picket is inserted in the opening, means rigidly securing the picket to the lip adjacent the free end thereof whereby the angle included between the lower rail and picket may be varied by bending the lip, and

means securing the upper end of the picket to the upper rail.

3. For use as a rail of an adjustable picket carrying balustrade, a metal plate like rail, there being an opening in the rail for the'end of the picket defined on three sides by edges coplanar with the rail and on the fourth side by a lip-like portion of the rail lying out of the plane thereof and contacting the picket substantially tangentially when the picket is inserted in said opening, and means to rigidly secure the picket to the free end of the lip-like portion.

4. For use as an inclined balustrade, upper and lower rails in the form of metal channels with the webs thereof disposed toward each other, there being picket receiving slots in the webs of the channels defined along one edge by lips integrally formed with the webs and lying out of the planes thereof and between the legs REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,498,127 Sommer June 1'7, 1924 1,757,686 Rosenbaum May 6, 1930- 1,796,175 Winston Mar. 10, 1931 1,811,370, Soucy June 23, 1931' 1,993,536 Turner et al Mar. 5, 1935 2,431,546 Edwards Nov. 25, 1947 

